


Red-Eyed Rabbit

by Shining_Diamondsae



Series: One great big psychotic dysfunctional family | Hermitcraft [5]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Kingdom Of Valor, Minecraft (Video Game), YHS - Fandom, evo
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bracelets, Character Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Dryad Stress, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grian has a bad time the fic, Griangst, Hermitcraft - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Killer Bunny, Kingdom of Valor - Freeform, Mage Grian, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Ninja Etho, Non-Graphic Violence, One great big psychotic dysfunctional family, Other than Sam/Yuki and Taurtis/Salex, Past Lives, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Past Sam/Grian, Platonic Relationships, Scarred Grian, Scarred Scar, So much angst, Sort Of, Team as Family, The hermits are a family, The watchers are good, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Vex Cub, Vex powers, Void walker Xisuma, Winged Grian, Yandere, Yandere High School - Freeform, change my mind, hermitcraft season 7, like they can kill you with two hits evil, revival, the bunny is evil, the sequel, yhs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shining_Diamondsae/pseuds/Shining_Diamondsae
Summary: Grian went to Evo to forget, forget his past lives and everything that followed behind his dark past.Grian joined Hermitcraft to love, to heal, to leave behind his past and focus on the future.A red eyed rabbit that just so happens to hop into one of the hermit meetings with the intention to kill begs to differ.
Relationships: Charles | Grian & Taurtis
Series: One great big psychotic dysfunctional family | Hermitcraft [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779679
Comments: 14
Kudos: 441





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This work focuses more on the past roleplays Grian did with Samgladiator and Taurtis, which includes Kingdom of Valor and Yandere High School.  
> Many people remember Yandere High School as Grian's teenager years before Evo, but many over look Kingdom of Valor, which is totally understandable considering the events that take place and that Grian is basically a psychopath in KoV. Here's my timeline of Grian's life  
> Kingdom of Valor-> rebirth/childhood years-> Yandere High School-> Evo-> Hermitcraft season 6-> Hermitcraft season 7  
> (You don't have to watch the roleplays to understand what is going on though.)  
> With that out of the way, enjoy!
> 
> Also Grian, I'm sorry.

Grian flew back to the start of his hobbit hole in the jungle. The hermit entered his hobbit hole, seeing no new messages from Mumbo, and lazily placed his stuff in mix-matched chests and barrels on the floor.

"I got to make an item sorter this season." Grian spoke to himself, looking at the start of an ever-growing chest monster. His communicator dinged with a message, Grian moved his arm with a swift movement, a black transparent hologram appeared in front of him, showing the hermit chat.

<Xisuma> Don't forget the meeting is in 5 minutes

The meeting to discuss the new season and it's plans was happening soon, the Hermits met every so often to discuss what was going on. It was more a get-together than a meeting with Iskall and Bdubs arguing over the pronunciation of certain words and Mumbo showing up late almost all the time.

Much to Bdub's dismay, the meeting was set near sunset, which meant the hermit can't run off to a bed and sleep the night away. Grian chuckled at the thought and began to fly to the shopping district, meeting Scar along the way.

"Hello there, Grian. Man, I really miss having an elytra." Scar spoke, eyeing Grian's golden wings on his back. "You and Tango are lucky."

"Yeah, maybe later we can go end busting so we can get you an elytra." Grian suggested, then turned his head to see a familiar dryad approach. "Hey, Stress!"

"Why hello to you too, boys." Stress smiled, walking along side Scar, flower blooming with every step she took. "We better hurry up and make it there on time."

"Yeah, let me just remind Mumbo real quick." Grian left the two of them. "I don't think he got the message."

"Typical Mumbo." Scar joked, waving bye temporarily to the hermit as Grian flew towards Mumbo's hobbit hole.

Grian dived down, entering the open door and swirling in the air to slow himself down, yelling at his redstoner friend with a large smile. "HI MUMBO!"

"Grian! What on Earth, mate?" Mumbo turned around, redstone covering his hands.

"You forgot, did you?" Grian crossed his arms and smirked.

"Forgot what? What are you on about this time-" Grian pulled up his communicator for him. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Grian joke. "Now come along you spoon, you're gonna make us both be late."

~~~

Grian met back up with Scar, Stress, and now Ren and Iskall as they flew/walk towards the shopping district. The sun was about to set and off in the distance they saw Etho, Beef, Bdubs, Keralis, and Doc walking to the district as well.

Stress and Grian both looked at each other and Stress moved her fingers upwards with a flick. Right from behind Bdubs sprouted a giant mushroom tree. Bdubs and Beef both yelled out a surprised look, Doc instantly took his trident out, and Etho teleported far, far away from where he once stood.

Stress and Grian stifled a laugh as they approached the group, hiding their smiles and attempted to greet them.

"That was your doing, wasn't it?" Bdubs pointed at the tree. "Not funny!"

"Oh come on, you should've seen your faces!" Stress cried out, erupting with laughter as Grian landed on the mycelium ground, his wings relaxing from the flying as he grabbed a hold of Scar's should to ground himself.

"No offense but the teleporting was a bit much, Etho." Grian chimed in.

"What, who pulled a prank without us?" Tango's voice was heard in the distance. "Oh Mumbo, you actually arrived on time!"

"Yeah, thanks to this gremlin over here." Mumbo jabbed Grian's side gently, a smile on his lips.

Xisuma arrived and called the start of the 'meeting', the Hermits stayed together up until the moon was starting to rise. Grian was chatting with Bdubs and Scar about some future collab when Cub's voice spoke up from the midst.

"That's real weird... why and how did a rabbit spawn here of all places?"

Jevin crouched down to pick up the white bunny, his eyes furrowed as he spoke. "It's larger than the usual rabbits we see too, but I'm sure the little guy just hopped here from the forest."

Scar held onto Jellie to stop her from pouncing on the rabbit. "Down, girl, it's just an innocent white rabbit." He picked up his cat and walked over to Jevin and Cub, scratching the underside of the rabbit's chin.

Grian felt his eyes widen at the sight of the rabbit, it's soft and pure white fur reminding him of his past that he want to forget. His nerves were calmed when he saw Jevin, Cub, Scar, and now Cleo cuddling the rabbit and petting it softly.

The rabbit turned its head and looked at Grian. Grian subconsciously took a step back, the rabbit was staring at him for far too long, shouldn't it turn its attention to one of the other hermits. Grian felt panic run through his veins as the rabbit continued to look at him, a glint of power in its eyes, bloodlust, dangerous power.

"Grian?" Iskall asked, turning to the builder. "Everything alright?"

At the sound of his name, Grian saw the rabbit's eyes turn a crimson dark red color, the color of blood. Grian let out a shriek as he watch the rabbit attack Cleo, pushing the three other hermits away. Xisuma turned his head over from where he was talking with TFC in shock.

The rabbit ignored all the other hermits, going straight for Grian.

Grian felt his breath pick up speed, his legs refused to move and his arms refused to fight back. With a blink of an eye he was back in high school, Yandere High School, and in front of him stood Sam with his signature white bunny hate and a blood-stained knife.

Sam took a step forward and Grian blinked again, his vision changing back to hermit craft where the bunny had knocked him down to the ground, a large gash appeared over his stomach from the rabbit's large claws.

He heard the shouts and yells of the other hermits but none of them reached his ear. Grian let the rabbit tear him up, but his eyes only saw Sam over him, the knife held over his head, ready to plunge.

Xisuma tapped furiously on his communicator, and with a press of a button (and many lines of codes later) the rabbit was gone. He quickly ran towards Grian, crouching down next to him and lifting up Grian's red sweater.

Half of the hermits cringed, the other half looked away. The white undershirt Grian wore was now tainted with blood from a large cut on his stomach. Xisuma's hands hovered over Grian's whimpering form until Joe handed a regeneration potion in front of him.

"Grian, Grian, it'll be okay..." Xisuma told the hermit, holding his head with his hand while Joe worked with the potion. "Just stay still, okay? You'll be fine, I promise." Grian heard himself give a faint answer before he closed his eyes, letting slumber take a hold of him.

The hermits remained quiet, letting Xisuma and Joe work on Grian, they helped out any ways they can until Scar noticed something weird. He crouched down next to Grian's other side, pulling the white shirt up to let Joe work fast.

"Why... why does Grian have scars?" Scar felt himself speak, his fingers gently over a thin red scar on Grian's side. He looked to see more scars on his chest.

The thin red faded to white scar littered his entire front side. Scar gently pulled down Grian's turtle neck sweater to see one slit horizontally on his neck, he put a hand to his mouth to try not to gag, his mind not daring to think about how Grian got the scar.

"They're knife scars... but how did he get these?" Scar spoke up, swallowing the bile in his throat. "Wouldn't they disappear when he joined last season? Or even this season?"

For the longest time, the hermits only knew that Scar had scars on his skin from past deaths. Never, not until now, did Grian mention to anyone that he also had them. Grian mentioned high school to Mumbo and Xisuma, but never spoke anything else other than he and Taurtis were former class mates.

Scar held onto Grian's hands, pulling the sleeve of his shirt up to reveal several more scars, but this time, they looked different. Scar gasped and held onto Grian's hand tighter, tears forming in his eyes as his mind raced to think about what the hermit had gone through before he joined them.

"Scar? What is it, love?" Stress knelt down next to him, placing a comforting hand on Scar's shoulder.

"Self harm scars..." Scar muttered to himself, none of them able to hear it fully.

"Scar, love, please speak up." Stress said back.

"Self harm scars... Grian has self harm scars..." Scar spoke up louder, the picture of the pink and magenta lines on Grian's wrist still in his head. "What- What happened to him in the past? Why does he have them?" His voice sounded desperate, urging for an answer.

"Scar, relax love, we have to make sure Grian is okay first. And when he's fully healed, we can talk to him." Stress gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. Scar nodded slowly, blinking the unshed tears away.

~~~

Scar, Stress, Joe, Mumbo, Iskall, and Xisuma sat in the make-shift hospital in one of the houses Scar built for his jungle village. The other hermits had stopped by for a couple hours, but all of them stayed in the jungle so it would be easier to reach Grian in case anything went wrong.

Grian was hooked up to the EKG machine, his wounds bandaged and almost healed, not leaving a scar, to the relief of the other hermits. The sound of the machine beeps signaled he was still alive. They didn't have to defibrillate him yet and they hope they won't ever have to.

Grian's injuries were bad, Xisuma recalled learning about the Killer Bunnies when the update came around for it, but wondered why one would randomly spawn. Killer Bunnies were only spawned in with command blocks. The rabbit was also passive, did Grian set something off about it? Why did it only go for Grian?

Grian's clothes were replaced thanks to the other hermits, he now wore a loose black t-shirt and navy blue jeans. Xisuma recalled Grian's sweater going missing for an hour before it appeared back in it's original spot, the large gash in the middle replaced.

Iskall and Stress were having a small conversation, Stress trying to bring her friend out of his silent mood that he was rarely in. Everyone froze mid-sentence when a monotone high pitched and long beep filled the air.

Grian was flat-lining.

Everyone dashed up from where they sat, eyes wide and hands frantically moving to do something, anything, to help their friend.

"CUB!" Scar dashed outside. "CUB, CRYSTAL, NOW!"

Cub heard the beep from the open door and quickly handed Scar the Magical Healing Crystal he boosted with Vex magic.

Scar ran back inside, the crystal in his hands. He wrapped Grian's hands around the crystal then put his hands over it. Scar closed his eyes to focus and whispered a Vex spell Cub had taught him back in season 5.

The crystal in Grian's and Scar's hand began to glow a blinding red color. Scar opened his eyes to see purple and black sparks also appearing. He didn't know what they were but decided not to question about it, he had much more serious issues to attend to.

Scar finished up the spell, letting the powers of the crystal seep into Grian's body, the black and purple sparks evolved to a gradient mist that circled Grian and stayed for a few seconds before disappearing in the air.

Scar felt a soft hand hold his when he pulled back, Mumbo held onto his hand. The redstoner looked at Grian with worried eyes, praying that the crystal and whatever the sparks were worked.

Joe saw Grian blink first, immediately by his side to see that his heart was beating once more. "Grian, you there?" Joe asked, a hand on the bed Grian laid on.

Grian felt himself slowly blink back to reality, he craned his head to see Joe next to him, relief on his face. Grian moved his head to see he was holding onto one of Scar's magical crystals, did they actually work? He thought to himself.

"Your wounds are healed up but lay back down, Grian, you're still weak and fatigued." Mumbo placed a hand on Grian's shoulder, was he... crying? "It's alright, G. Just glad you're okay." Grian realize he said that out loud accidentally.

"How am I alive?" Grian felt himself ask.

"Well, we used a bunch of regen and healing potions on you but... you began flatlining, Gri. Cub enchanted on of Scar's healing crystals with Vex powers-- There was also some weird purple and black sparks as well, but in the end, they managed to heal you and wake up up." Iskall replied.

"Purple and black sparks?...." Grian let out a small laugh. "The Watchers..."

"I figured it was them." Xisuma spoke. "We're all thrilled to have you back, Grian. It's been a long day..." Grian sat up on the bed, feeling his muscles in his stomach construct from the wounds still healing, but it didn't hurt.

After some chatting with the others, Grian is helped up to his feet and walks outside to greet the other hermits and thanking Cub a million times with help on the crystal. While everyone hangs out in the misfit magical creatures village, Scar idly stands around, still worried over what he saw when Grian fell unconscious yesterday.

"Grian," Scar felt the courage to speak up, catching the attention of the winged hermit, who turned away from a conversation with Ren and False.

"Yeah? What's up, Scar?" Grian asked.

'How can he still smile like that after.... those?' Scar thought to himself, reminded of Grian's large smile when he met the others after waking up.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, I get it, but...." Scar tried to find the right words to form. "When you were unconscious last night we... saw somethings... Some scars on your body."

Scar saw Grian tense up at the mention of them, he instantly felt bad for asking as it was a sensitive topic. Scar remained silent and Grian directed is gaze downwards to avoid eye contact with the curious hermits.

"Grian, like Scar said, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Xisuma chimed in, placing a hand on Grian's shoulder.

"No... no, you deserve an explanation." Grian looked back up, guiding the 20 something of them to sit down in the village center. "After all the kindness and friendliness you shown me last season and this one too, it's only fair...."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian recalls of everything from his past, everything that he could remember, and stuff he feels like he shouldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't suppose to be this long....  
> Warning: Mentions of rape, self-harm, and semi-descriptive gore.

"To explain it all, I have to start from the very, very beginning." Grian began, looking up at his friends. "Not many people remember their past lives, but I, somehow, do."

~~~

Grian was born into a family of humans in the Kingdom of Valor, but he was far from normal compared to the other humans in his small village. His chaotic nature got himself into trouble countless of times.

Grian yearned for power, he wanted it desperately. He wanted to go against the other skilled fighters of the Kingdom and beat them, he wanted to win, he wanted to be a victor. By the time Grian met Sam and Taurtis, he was already a powerful mage.

Grian remembered walking in a forest and seeing an old man resting on the side of the large cliff. In his hands was a wooden staff that curved near the front, an orb of pure white magic levitated inside the curve.

Grian didn't know any better, he wanted the powers of the old man. So, he snuck up behind him and pushed him off the cliff. Grian watched with satisfaction as he saw the old man fell to his demise, his head cracking against the stone at the very bottom, blood pouring out from the large wound.

Grian felt the powers merge with his body, they became one. Instantly afterwards, Grian took whatever materials the old man carried on him and took it to learn magic. He got more and more powerful with every passing day. His magic can be used to his benefit.

That included acting like a 'prophet' for money. The mage secretly used his powers to make it look real then made up a bunch of stuff to tell to his customers. He got away with it until one day, a patrolling knight saw him disappear into the back alley.

Grian summoned his staff, praising himself while counting the coins in his hands. He wasn't paying attention and snapped when a hand was pressed to his shoulder. Grian was forced to turn around, his staff pointed at the patrol in front of him.

The knight was about his age, with dark brown hair peeking out from under his helmet. He was scared, just like Grian, but still kept his stance. "What do you want?" Grian asked.

"I want answers. You're clearly scamming people into believing your bs, Mage." The knight spoke. "I'd turn you in... but..."

"But what? State your business so I can carry on with my day." Grian remarked.

"But I do need help with this quest the king sent me on. Join me, and my friend, and you'd be on Valor's good side. You seem like a powerful wizard already." He gave a small smirk.

Grian scoffed. "And if I decline?" The orb on his staff began to glow red.

"Then I turn you in and you'd be stuck in the dungeon for two years." The knight replied back.

Grian internally groaned and lowered his staff. He didn't have much of a choice. He can kill the knight, but that would only make him a much higher criminal than he already is. He saw the knight smile as Grian looked up to meet his eyes. "Okay, fine. Who is this friend of yours?"

~~~

Time pass and Grian got to know Sam and Taurtis better. Taurtis was hesitant with opening up to Grian. Grian couldn't blame him, he would hold other mages at sword point, forcing them to give him all the information they know about unusual and powerful spells. After a couple of weeks, Taurtis grew onto Grian and they became friends.

The trio always caused trouble with every adventure they were set on. From setting a village of cannibals up in flames to almost killing a witch one time (Grian's fault). They almost always got away with it, but one occasion led them into a dungeon of a smaller kingdom.

"Well, this is great." Taurtis kicked a pebble around. To his left was Sam and to his right was Grian. They were separated into their own prison cells.

Taurtis was about to joke about something until he heard a loud explosion from his right. He turned his head over and stood on his toes to see what was going on. A small barred window allowed him to see what was happening.

"Grian? What on Valor are you doing?" Taurtis asked.

"Trying to blow up this wall." Grian spoke.

"But they took out weapons." Taurtis replied.

"I know, but I can still use my magic without the help of my staff." Grian replied, looking up to see Taurtis' head peeking in. Taurtis let out a small 'oh', and sat down.

"If you want to break out of this dump, you can always ask me." A girl's soft voice spoke up from next to Grian.

"Wait, who said that?" Sam's voice echoed out.

"The name's Wisper," The girl introduced herself. "I've been waiting for a couple visitors to drop by for a while now."

"Okay, so help us out, why don't you?" Sam asked.

"Nope, no can do sir. I require payment." Wisper responded, Grian groaned.

"Okay fine, once you let us out and we get our weapons back, we can talk payment." Grian suggested.

"A business man, I presume. Hm." Wisper muttered.

Grian heard a faint hum from Wisper's cell, it grew louder and louder until the metal around them melted into a hole big enough for them fit through. Grian turned to look at the brown-haired girl in awe.

"Special crystal I snatched from a village, managed to hide it on me when the guards captured me. Now lets go, I know where the weapon vault is." Wisper led the way, the three boys trailing behind.

After narrowly avoiding the guards, running for their lives in trapped hallways, and getting their weapons back, the four of them made it back outside. They were greeted with the lush forest outside the small kingdom. Grian had half a mind to set it up in flames like he did with the other one.

"So, what do you want?" Sam asked, arms crossed and looking at Wisper.

"Time alone," She began, then pointed at Grian with a sly smile. "With him."

~~~

No matter how many times he scrubbed himself off, the feeling of another pair of hands around him never faded away. Grian shuddered as he trailed behind the group. The king had sent a letter asking for the three of them to return to Valor regarding about their most recent quest: Infiltrate the Orc bases and find information.

Like many of their past missions, it didn't end successfully. Grian almost blew Taurtis up and Sam was almost captured by the Orcs.

The three of them entered the throne room and bowed to the King. With a wave of his hands, the King ushered the guards away and got up from his throne, walked towards Sam, who was in the middle.

Grian didn't pay much attention, the feeling of another persons hands around his still prominent on him. The mage snapped his head up when the King told the three of them that they were exiled temporarily for failing such an important mission.

"But, your majesty-" Grian began, peaking out of line. The king gaze him a sharp glare that shut him up.

"You should be glad it's an exile and not years in prison, mage." The king sneered, then waved his hands once more. The same guards escorted the three of them out of the kingdom rather harshly.

Grian felt a scream travel through his throat and out at the guards. He had half a mind to set the entirety of Valor up in flames but was held back by a certain black-wearing ninja.

"Grian." Taurtis spoke sternly, his hands holding onto Grian's wrist. "Drop. The. Staff."

Grian let out a huff and weakly let his staff disappear from his hands. Taurtis let go of his hold and Grian turned his back towards the castle. "What now?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well... we can always find a small village to lay low at and complete some small quests until the King asks for us to return." Sam suggested.

"Heh, yeah, if ever." Grian mumbled.

"Well, I know a few places we can spend the night." Taurtis proposed. "Lets start walking."

Grian felt the days whizz past him, and everyday brought a new quest. Every quest brought a new adventure, and every adventure meant more gold to earn and powers to learn about. Sam and Taurtis' worry began to increase as Grian grew more and more powerful each and everyday.

Then, war was amongst them all.

The king asked for them to return, they needed everyone in the safety of the kingdom walls, every able-bodied man had to fight. The Orcs invaded the surrounding agricultural villages, declaring war against Valor.

Taurtis and Sam were on patrol duty when they saw it, the horde of mobs that marched forward in the horizon. Taurtis stayed to see what they were doing while Sam ran back into the castle to warn everyone else.

The Orcs made haste, not stopping for anything or anyone. The fight had begun and soon, a portion of Valor was in ruins. One of the orcs offered a bargain. A duel between their most powerful mages, whoever wins claims the rights to Valor. If they didn't follow through with the duel, they would fight until it's the last man standing.

"Grian, I don't think this is a good idea.." Sam hesitantly grabbed a hold of Grian's shoulder, worry etched on his face.

"When have I ever had a good idea?" Grian retorted. Sam lowered his hand and Grian turned to face his opponent. He trained endlessly if ever he were to be face-to-face with a powerful mage. He didn't think it was going to end up like this, though.

The mage stood up straight, facing the large Orc in front of him that held an even bigger oak staff. Green Galactic text levitated a few inches over the staff, the text moving in figure eights around it all.

Grian rolled his shoulders back and pulled his hood down, revealing his ragged and messy chestnut hair. He heard the countdown commence and without any hesitation, summoned the most powerful spell he knew.

Wind manipulation has always been his forte, there was no doubt upon that. Grian moved his arms above his head, letting an orb of air surround him and protect him from an incoming fire attack. Gray clouds began to line the sky, thunder roared in the distance.

Grian felt the electricity run through his veins, the wind blowing his hairs and cloak in a multitude of directions. Grian closed his eyes shut and focused an orb of air around the large Orc, also working on protecting himself as well.

Grian moved away from an incoming fire attack. He pushed his arms in front of him, leaning forward slightly with his knees bent and feet dug into the ground. He heard the Orc begin to gag and choke, it's sharp claws against metal.

Grian opened his eyes to see an orb of air around the giant Orc, pulling the oxygen out from its body. He moved away quickly when the Orc blasted a beam of fire in his general direction and continued with the spell.

Grian has never used the spell before to it's full extent. He remembers practicing on thieves and bandits, but never using it enough with the intent to kill. Grian opened his eyes to see the Orc clawing at his neck, the air around him refusing to let anything go in or out of the orb.

Grian moved his arms downwards, seeing the Orc being forced onto his knees. He choked and coughed wildly, Grian continued pulling the oxygen out until he could no longer hold onto the power. With a sharp gust of air, Grian undid the spell, pulling back to see the Orc on the floor. No one was allowed into the duel, so no one was allowed to check on the orc and see if he's alive of not.

Grian breathed heavily, his arms felt like jelly and his head pounded against his skull. The judge started to announce his victory until his eyes snapped back to the Orc.

The giant Orc began to slowly twitch his fingers, getting back onto his knees and elbows, pushing himself up. Grian quickly sent a gust of air in it's direction but it barely did anything to harm the Orc.

The Orc stood back up and narrowed it's beady eyes at Grian. The mage heard his friends yell behind him, Sam and Taurtis urging him to forfeit. Grian stood his ground and began conjuring another spell.

At the same time, the both of them fired two different, highly powerful spells. The Orc sent a beam of burning blue fire, counter attacked by Grian's beam of wind. Grian leaned forward, feeling his body shift slightly on the ground as the powers from the Orc pushed him back.

His powers slowly drained, the fire getting closer and closer. Grian kept a hold of the spell, yelling at himself to ignore the deep and aching pain in his body. The mage continued to hold up until he began to feel the heat oft he fire inching closer and closer.

Grian took a quick look behind him, seeing Wisper, Sam, and Taurtis standing there. They all yelled out something but it didn't reach Grian's ears. Grian felt his hands waver from the pain and slowly brought them down, he repealed his magic.

Grian closed his eyes to feel the searing hot pain of the fire travel all throughout his body. He was blown backwards, farther than the crowd, and landed on the floor harshly. Grian coughed as smoke began to enter his lungs, his body unable to do anything.

"GRIAN!"

He heard Taurtis yell one last time before he closed his eyes.

~~~

"Grian!"

Grian was hoisted awake and quickly jumped out of bed. He looked around his barren room. Despite how early it was, Tokyo was bustling with activity. Grian rubbed his eyes and saw his mom walk into his room.

"Is it already time to leave?" Grian asked, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah, now get changed, Grian." His mother teased. Her wings resting against her back.

Grian was born from a human and avian couple. When he was five, his wing bone began to grow. It wouldn't reach it's full length until he was 15. The ten year old boy groaned and fell back, hitting the inflatable mattress behind him while his legs dangled off it.

"I will.." Grian stretched his arms above his head, letting his wings spread out besides him. He yawned deeply then went to grab his back pack, his mother left and closed the door behind her.

He quickly slipped on the red sweater. Whatever voodoo type magic that made up his wings were real useful as he didn't had to cut holes in his shirts just to put it on. The wings were basically invisible and fazed through the fabric.

The avian quickly flew downstairs, seeing his home all tidy, cleaned, and empty of all their belongings except most of their furniture. Grian quickly greeted his dad and peeked out the window, the white sign displaying the words 'UNDER CONTRACT'.

With one last look at his house, Grian left and closed the door behind him, following behind his parents as he hopped into the taxi that would take them to the airport.

The ride was uneventful. Grian looked out the window while his parents talked about some house stuff. He watch Tokyo go past him. He saw the café where he would spend some of his time at after school. The convenience store near the elementary school. His favorite restaurant his parents took him to when he as younger.

After a very long time of following safety procedures and putting their luggage away, the 10 year old followed his parents into the airplane and sat on the window seat. He watched in admiration as the plane began to take off.

Grian flew so fast that he couldn't fully see what was whizzing past him. The airplane ascended slowly upwards, giving Grian the perfect view of Tokyo underneath him. Time passed by quickly, mainly because it was spent watching a movie and messing around with some activity books.

Grian felt the plane descend, one of the pilots announcing they were landing in London, England. He saw the European city come into view, his mind racing with comparisons over how different it was from Tokyo.

Grian was lucky he was bilingual. His mother was Japanese and his father was European. He grew up using Japanese in Tokyo and English at home with his family. Grian followed behind his mother and left the airport.

~~~

Grian finished placing the rest of his books on the bookshelf. The European styled home was so different from high-tech and modern Tokyo. The avian fluttered up to place a couple figurines on the higher shelves when he heard the doorbell ring.

Grian left his room and flew down the stairs, hearing his mother lightly scold him for flying inside. He caught up with his dad and stayed behind him, seeing three figures on the other side of the door. His father opened the door with a smile.

Grian hid behind his mother, not sure who the new people were. There were two adults and one boy who was about his age. He heard the parents introduce themselves but wasn't paying much attention, just knowing that they were their new neighbors was enough.

"This is our son, Mumbo."

Grian peeked out to thee the boy about his age look at him. The boy gave a smile and waved, adjusting the white button up shirt he wore. His wings were kept close to his back, still timid.

"Dear, say hello." His mother patter his shoulder.

"Hello." Grian bowed his head lightly, stopping half-way when he remembered he wasn't in Japan anymore. Old habits die hard.

Before he knew it, the family was invited in to chat. Mumbo and Grian sat in the living room, Grian awkwardly fiddling with his thumbs. The adults were in the room over, the kitchen.

"Well, my name's Mumbo. You already know that, of course." Mumbo introduced himself formally this time.

"I'm Grian." Grian simply spoke.

"It's nice to meet a boy my age in this neighborhood. I didn't think you were an avian." He marveled over Grian's wings.

"Oh right, my mom's an avian, so I got them from her. They aren't fully grown yet." Grian subconsciously ran a hand through one of his wings.

"Well, they're beautiful. Where did you move from, Grian?" Mumbo asked, Grian chuckled at the curiosity they shared.

"Tokyo, Japan. Moved here for my father's job. He's an architect, when I grow up, I want to be like him." Grian smiled.

"My dad's an engineer. An extremely good one too. I'm not that good at building." Mumbo added in.

"Well, redstone is basically witchcraft." Grian joked.

The two of them continued to talk and get to know each other. And before Grian knew it, the days passed and they hung out almost every single day.

Grian started middle school with Mumbo, they had mostly the same classes. Grian remembered holding onto Mumbo's hand tightly, not daring to let go and get lost in the halls of other children.

After school they would hang out and show each other their most recent projects. Mumbo's newest machine or Grian's weird monster-like creations. Mumbo always joked about how terrifying the Elmo build was.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. It felt like yesterday when Grian met Mumbo, the timid introverted boy who hid behind his mother. Grian was happy in London. He made amazing friends, he and Mumbo were basically glue to each other's shoulders, and middle school was ending real soon.

But that all came to a quick halt:

"What do you mean we're moving?!"

Grian had just came back home from school, he placed down his backpack and looked at his parents. They both shared looks of sorrow. Grian was heart broken, his wings were spread out a little bit, mouth agape.

"What about- about your job, dad?" He stammered. "And- And Mumbo! How am I going to tell Mumbo?" His mother placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to leave London, I want to stay with Mumbo and my friends!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know you're going to miss them. We're moving back to Tokyo and settling down until further notice. Your dad got laid of from work and his old company offered him his job back. We filed with out old contractors, we found a new home in Tokyo." His mother explained.

"B-but... My friends..." Grian stammered. "I'm starting high school soon! School's ending in, like, a month!"

"Grian," His father began.

Grian turned his back to his parents, wiping the tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm going out on a fly." Grian simply spoke. He flew out of the house and high above the neighborhood.

Grian wiped the tears spilling out. The pain held on tight in his heart. He didn't want to leave London. He didn't want to leave Mumbo. He promised Mumbo they would stay friends throughout high school and hopefully even collage.

The 13 year old stopped and landed in the park, his back hitting the trunk of a large oak tree somewhere on one of the trails. He cried and cried, wishing and praying that some miracle would happen and they wouldn't have to leave.

"Grian?"

Grian looked up, seeing Mumbo crouched down in front of him. He look extremely concern and Grian cursed himself for worrying his friend.

"Grian, what's wrong?" Mumbo asked, placing a hand on Grian's shoulder.

Grian looked away and leaned in towards Mumbo. He wrapped the older boy in a tight hug, sniffling away the tears forming in his eyes. Mumbo hugged him back, the bottom of his chin resting against the top of Grian's hair. Mumbo rubbed Grian's back gently, hearing the sniffles slowly fade away.

"Mumbo..." Grian pulled back. "We're moving back to Tokyo."

Mumbo felt his chest clench up in pain, but stayed silent to let Grian talk.

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you. I want to stay in London." Grian cried. "I made a promise, a promise to you. I-"

"I'll miss you too." Mumbo finished for him, holding him close. Grian's head rested against Mumbo's chest. The two of them sat in silence, holding onto each other.

Mumbo stayed with Grian for the night in his house, with their parent's permission. The two of them cuddled up next to each other on Grian's bed. They spent whatever remaining time they had together.

The day came when Grian would have to leave. The 13 year old was woken up early in the morning to get ready to go to the airport. Grian grabbed his small luggage bag and rolled it behind him, placing it in the taxi.

Mumbo and Grian met, for possibly the last time, in the airport. They hung out in the seating area, the parents were about 20 seats away. The PA system came on with an announcement, stating that his flight was leaving soon and passengers should start boarding the plane.

Grian got up hesitantly, seeing his parents do the same down the aisle. Grian held onto Mumbo's hand. He got up and began walking with his parents before stopping and turning around.

Without any second thoughts, he dashed off and flew into Mumbo's arm, landing quickly and hugging his best friend tightly. Mumbo took several steps back and embraced Grian.

"I'm going to miss you." Grian whispered, head buried in Mumbo's shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you too, Gri. I got something for you." Mumbo pulled back and slipped a bracelet on Grian's right wrist.

Grian held his wrist up closer to examine it. The red and black beads pressed loosely against his skin, two blocky white beads sat in the middle with the letters 'G' and 'MJ' on it. Mumbo pulled down his sleeve to reveal the same bracelet.

"Thank you, Mumbo." Grian spoke. "I'll text you when I land!"

He felt his hand slip away from Mumbo's grasp, turning to leave with his parents. Grian turned around one last time to see Mumbo waving at him, the avian waved back before boarding the plane.

~~~

Grian fumbled with the bracelet as he sat on a tree branch. He held it close to his chest and closed his eyes. If he concentrated hard enough, he could still feel Mumbo hugging him before he left London.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Grian snapped his eyes open and saw two boys looking up at him. The builder quickly wiped away a stray tear and put the bracelet back on. He fluttered down on the grass and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He spoke, awkwardly standing there. "I'm Grian, by the way, just moved back from- from London." He cursed his stuttering.

"I'm Sam and this here is Taurtis." The boy with the bunny hat spoke.

"Want to smell my fish?" Taurtis asked, holding up a dead salmon in front of Grian. The builder backed up and put his hands up in front of him.

"I'm good... thanks." Grian used his pointer finger to push Taurtis' hands down with a small smile.

"That's a very pretty bracelet you have-" Sam began, taking a couple steps closer.

Grian jerked his right arm back, holding his wrist close to his chest and fluttered backwards a couple blocks. His eyes widened, left hand protectively over the bracelet. He was scared of someone touching it, stealing it from him.

"Woah, woah. What's wrong, Gree-on?" Sam asked, Taurtis eyeing the boy suspiciously as well.

"Grian." The builder muttered to the mispronunciation. "And nothing. Just... it's just a bracelet." Grian slowly lowered his stance and composed himself.

The avian turned his head to look at his school, the words 'Akademi High School' printed in fancy font on the sign. The boy sighed, imagining about Mumbo and how his first day of high school is going for him. They text often but the long distance makes it much harder.

Grian turns back to Sam and Taurtis, the words on the tip of his tongue before he freezes upon eye contact with the bunny-hat wearing man. For a split second, Grian finds himself in a lush forest, Taurtis in all-black ninja attire, Sam in gray knight armor, and himself in a maroon and golden colored robe.

"Grian? You okay?" Taurtis asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Grian blinked and everything was back to normal, he mentally shook the feeling of nostalgia away as he looked at Sam and Taurtis.

"I'm fine... we should head inside." Grian flew towards the school, hearing Sam and Taurtis talk behind him. He didn't pay much attention, his fingers fumbling with the bracelet.

High school was different from middle school in London, much different. From Dom beating up one of the professors, the weird Fish Guy in the neighboring convenience store, and Jilly being Silly Jilly.

Grian kept the secrets of the weird vision of Taurtis, Sam, and himself. He'd either get them in dreams or from visions every time Sam or Taurtis did something that called back a similiar action they did in the past.

After a handful of the vision, Grian managed to piece together the puzzle.

Valor. That was the name of the world he lived in his past life.

A mage. That was who he was in his past life.

Grian tried to rekindle his magic from his past life, but every single attempt was futile. He tagged along with Sam and Taurtis because he simply has no one else to befriend. Mumbo and Grian would share stories about their adventures in the limited free time they had.

Sam was an enigma himself, Grian always found him weird from day one. Sam was either threatened with getting killed, or doing the killing.

It wasn't until Sam was forced to date Yuki later on in 10th grade, when Sam's demeanor changed.

Grian was passing by one of the empty hallways when he saw it. He flew behind the lockets, peeking into the empty hallway. Yuki was there, and her hair was a flashing red color. She held a knife up against Sam's throat, her free hand caressing Sam's cheek with a sly grin.

Grian flew away, not wanting to know what would happen if he got caught.

The next day, Grian noticed a drop on Sam's sanity. It continued up until prom, when Sam dumped Yuki.

"You-You what?" Yuki asked, her smile slowly fading. Grian held his wings closed to his back when he saw her hair slowly turn red.

"We're done, Yuki, you heard me." Sam spoke.

"But- But I love you. Don't you love me? DON'T YOU?"

Yuki pulled out a knife, Grian felt his instincts kick in.

"SAM, RUN!"

~~~

Sam and Yuki made up afterwards, well, forced too anyways. Sam continued to date Yuki and as the days progressed, his attitude declined.

It shifted all too fast for Grian's liking, especially after the fatal car crash that killer Taurtis' girlfriend, Salex.

"IT WAS YOU!" Sam called out, pointing at Taurtis. Grian moved to protect his friend, shielding Taurtis with his wings. "YOU KILLED SALEX!"

"I didn't kill her! I LOVED her, Sam! Why would I kill the girl I love?" Taurtis cried out, peeking out from Grian's wing.

"Sam, drop it! Taurtis is your best friend!" Grian tried to knock sense into the bunny man.

"AAARRRGGHHH!"

"SAM, NO!"

Grian was shoved aside roughly and fell to the ground. He winced as he felt his wings pound in pain, a red bruise forming on his back.

"TAURTIS!" Grian yelled, his hand out stretched as he stumbled back to his feet. "SAM, PLEASE, STOP!" Tear began to form in his eyes as he flew closely behind the two, flapping his wings to gain more and more speed.

He turned the corner to the graveyard behind the school, where Gareth and Salex's graves were. A screamed form in Taurtis' throat but was cut off abruptly. Grian landed behind the school and gasped, his hands up to cover his mouth.

Taurtis laid on the floor, limbs sprawled out and blood seeping onto the concrete floor. Sam's knife lodged deep in his chest.

"TAURTIS!" Grian yelled loudly.

He ran forward and dropped to his knees next to Taurtis, holding his friend's head in his lap. Grian gently took the headphones off Taurtis' head and placed it next to him. Endless tears fell from his eyes, rolling down his cheek and chin, then dropping to the floor. Grian kept muttering 'Taurtis' over and over.

A pale, blood-stained hand, reached down and grabbed the headphones. The hands placed the headphones over Grian's ears.

Grian slowly turned to see Sam smiling down at him. Sam bent down to grab the knife and yank it out of the corpse.

"Sam... what-?" Grian began, anger flashed in his eyes. "YOU JUST KILLED TAURTIS, YOU BASTARD!" He got up to his feet and began to walk towards Sam, stopped by the knife he held in front of him.

"What are you talking about, Taurtis? You're right next to me. I don't know who that dead body is." Sam spoke innocently. Wiping the blood from his hands onto his jeans.

"Taurtis? What? What are you on about, Sam? My name's Grian-" Grian's head snapped back with pain. He brought his hand up to see small droplets of blood seeping out. Sam had cut him.

"I don't know anyone named Gree-on, are you okay, Taurtis?" Sam asked, taking a step forward. The creepy smile was still on his face, this wasn't the Sam that Grian met three years ago.

"I-- I..." Grian stammered, taking a few steps back.

His eyes trailed back down to Taurtis, thinking about everything that had happened so far. There was so much he hadn't done yet. He wanted to explore the rest of the world, visit other servers, meet Mumbo again.

"Good, also, why are you wearing does ugly clothes?" Sam eyes his body up and down. "Go get changed, here."

Sam pulled out one of Taurtis' outfits from his inventory, shoving it into Grian's hands. Grian didn't dare ponder how Sam got the clothes and quickly went into the bathroom to change. He came back out looking like Taurtis, except he was still Grian.

Grian followed Sam around, acting like Taurtis, calling himself Taurtis, accepting that he was Taurtis. It stayed like that for the rest of high school. He didn't dare to tell Mumbo about what happened, Sam made sure if he spoke a word about it to anyone else, he would end up like the real Taurtis.

"Come on, Taurtis, finish eating!" Sam's voice spoke from outside the walls of the small closet that he called his bedroom.

Grian swallowed down the rest of the plastic, his wings ached in the amount of time Sam had ripped feathers from them to stop Grian from flying away. Grian held his breath to stop his sobs from echoing out to Sam, pulling the sleeves of his long blue shirt down to hide the red cuts all over his body.

The cuts on his wrists weren't from Sam, no, they were from Grian himself. He gave up hope long, long ago.

Grian was forced to cut off ties with Mumbo. His phone was destroyed thanks to Sam, who had went through his phone when he was asleep. Grian remembered Sam asking who Mumbo was right before smashing it onto the ground.

The bracelet Mumbo gave him was now buried deep in the pile of his old clothes in the closet.

Grian swallowed the plastic down and got up, wiping the tears and opening the closet door with a fake smile.

A couple months pass with the same treatment. Once or twice Grian attempted to remind Sam that he was Grian, not Taurtis, and they were all met with a harsh and brutal beating. It was June, now, and school was out.

Grian woke up in the closet from another dream. It was one of the quests they went on back in Valor. Back when it was the three of them, having fun and playing games. The three of them. Grian, Sam, and Taurtis.

Grian rubbed his eyes, ignoring his constant tear-stained cheeks and reached out to one of the corner of the closet. His hands brushed against a familiar object and he pulled back.

Under the dim candle light, Grian saw the red and black bracelet give to Mumbo. He held it close, closed his eyes, and reminisced over the memories of the past.

The laughter and happiness from the hours spent with Mumbo. The jokes and pranks during high school back when everything was different, when Sam wasn't a psychopathic killer, Taurtis was alive, and Grian was still Grian.

Grian saw a heavenly glow come from the bracelet. He opened his eyes and gasped at the blinding white and gold light that only reminded him of Valor.

His magic.

Grian felt a smile tug on his lips, a real smile as he exited out the closet into the living room. He made sure not to make any noise since Sam was sleeping upstairs. The glow from the bracelet began to take shape, a black shadow forming in the middle until it all disappeared.

"Taurtis?"

Grian felt himself whisper in the living room, the bracelet dormant in his hand. He quickly slipped it on.

"Grian?"

Grian's chest exploded at the voice.

"Grian, where are we? What happened?" Taurtis asked, looking around the dark room. He was still wearing his regular clothes but this time, there wasn't a drop of blood in sight. The only thing missing was his head phones.

Grian let out a happy cry and ran up to Taurtis, hugging him tightly. His wings formed a protective barrier around the two.

"It's just nice to see you again, Taurtis." Grian spoke. "I've got a lot of explaining to do." He pulled back.

"Yeah, for starters, why are you wearing my clothes?" Taurtis asked. Grian took off his head phones and placed it back on Taurtis' head.

"It's a very long story, Taurtis, but we have to leave." Grian held onto Taurtis' forearm when he spoke. "Sam's changed. He killed you and blackmailed me into acting and dressing like you. We have to leave, now!"

Grian saw the staircase light turn on and flinched.

"Taurtis? Why are you up?" Sam's groggily voice spoke up. He descended the staircase and froze mid-way. "Taurtis, who is this?" He looked at Taurtis.

"Sam, it's me!" Taurtis grinned, Grian mentally cursing at Sam.

"What are you talking about? Taurtis is right next to you!" Sam spoke. "Taurtis." He turned to Grian, enraged. Grian saw the faint outline of a knife and dashed out the door, tugging Taurtis behind him.

The builder didn't dare to look behind him, he already knew Sam was running towards them. Out of the trio, Sam was the most athletic and it wouldn't be long until he caught him. Grian took matters into his hands and picked up Taurtis bridal style, he began to fly to the nearest bus station.

"Grian! What are we going to do?" Taurtis asked. "You're hurt, you shouldn't be flying!"

"I've dealt with much more pain than this." Grian muttered a response, spotting a bus station and diving down. "We're leaving Earth."

"Leaving? Where would we go?" Taurtis cried out. "It's not like we have a device that can teleport us."

"Yeah, I didn't think this far ahead." Grian whispered shouted.

Grian swore he saw purple and black sparks appear from behind him whenever he flew. He ignored it and landed on the pavement, Sam wasn't in sight and it would take him a while to catch up.

"I'll fly to London! I know someone there who can help!" Grian suggested.

"You're HURT, Grian! Flying is not an option!"

"Then what else-- What's happening?

Grian looked at his hands to see a purple and black fog surround his body, the same went with Taurtis. Taurtis moved his hands and the fog disappeared, he then stood still and it appeared again.

'We call ourselves the Watchers' Text flashed in front of Grian's vision, black spots appeared and disappeared as well. 'We can take you to someplace safe, but there's a catch.'

"Anything, please, just take us far away from here." Grian pled.

'The world you will be placed in will be in a beta version of the world you live in now. Things will look and feel different. Do you accept?'

"Yes, yes, of course! Thank you-- "Grian began, seeing the fog take over most of his body by now.

'Stay still, this cannot work if you are moving.'

"GRIAN, WATCH OUT!"

Taurtis ran in front of Grian, grabbing Sam's arms. Sam dropped the knife and Taurtis kicked it onto the road with as much strength as possible. Grian saw his feet begin to disappear, then his legs.

"WAIT, MY FRIEND-" Grian began, contacting the Watchers. "TAURTIS!"

'We can only take one. Your friend will be in safe hands.'

"I'M NOT LEAVING HIM, TAURTIS!" Grian saw Taurtis wrestle Sam onto the ground.

"GRIAN, LEAVE, GO!" Taurtis ushered. "I'LL FIND A WAY BACK TO YOU, I PROMISE, NOW GO!"

Grian was about to move but the Watcher's magic confined him. Darkness surrounded him and Grian felt himself get teleported far away from Tokyo. A deep and groggily voice spoke to him right before he fell.

"Emerald, it worked. He's here."

~~~

Grian placed down the last red rose, looking at the stone statue. He took off the bracelet, ignoring the scars that were hidden underneath the green sleeves of his old outfit.

Grian dropped the bracelet in front of the statue and prayed that it work.

He closed his eyes tight when a gold and white glow appeared from the bracelet. Underneath the statue, a tanned fist broke two dirt blocks and climbed out.

"Grian?"

Grian felt himself smile and ran up to hug the newest Evolutionists.

"TAURTIS!"

"Grian... is this your world?" Taurtis took a look around the little Empire. Grian nodded against his chest. Taurtis cheered and hugged back, picking up the shorter male and swinging him around a couple of times.

"We're safe, Taurtis, I promise upon my life we're safe from him. You'll never, never, never have to see him again." Grian spoke.

"I'll be honest, it took me a long time to get past it. The Watchers, they're like the gods of the universe, they saved me. They taught me some magic and gave me this world to explore and create stuff in it. I invited a couple of friends as well. Oh, we have communicators as well!" Grian lifted up his left wrist to show the black device.

"That's amazing, Gri!" Taurtis spoke up, then his eyes widened. "Your outfit! Where's your wings?"

"What? What's wrong with it?" Grian looked himself up and down, then laughed. "Welcome to Evo, Taurtis. We're currently in a very old version of Minecraft. There's so much you have to catch up on. You have to meet the other Evolutionists!"

Grian linked his arms up with Taurtis, seeing that his skin was still the same, all he was missing was his head phones. Grian gave Taurtis a view of the entire server, explaining everything from the Watchers to the backstory of some of the builds.

It took a long, long time, but Grian managed to heal. He showed Taurtis the scars over his body. The scars from when Sam stabbed him for mentioning his birthname to the self-harm scars he inflicted on himself.

Things started to look up for Grian, with every new update the Watchers led them to came a new story to be told. He missed his parents, and talked to them every now and then, and he missed Mumbo so much.

All that changed one day, when Grian was working on his little empire when he got a message outside the Evo chat. He opened up his communicator and felt warmth spread all across his body at the sight.

<Mumbo Jumbo> Hey Grian, it's been a while How's it going?

~~~

"Well, from there we began chatting again. I didn't dare mention about high school. We kept talking and hanging out until I was invited to join." Grian finished his story. He dug around his inventory and pulled out the bracelet.

"You still have it? After all those years?" Mumbo asked, Grian chuckled.

"Yeah, I still got it. It's the reason why Taurtis is back, so of course I'm not loosing this." Grian answered. "It's just a reminder of everything that's happened. It has a part of Valor's magic, Taurtis' soul, and a piece of the Watchers all in it."

"If it's okay if I say his name... Sam..." Stress began. "What happened to him now?"

"I honestly don't know. He can be anywhere. All I know is that I'm far, far away from him." Grian sighed. "Sometimes I still have nightmares about Tokyo, some even of Valor. I never told you because I don't want you all to worry too much. I've moved past it all."

Grian took off the bracelet and held it in his hands. He turned the blocky bead around to reveal the Evo symbol drawn neatly on the back with black and purple.

"Seeing that bunny, with those red eyes... it just brought back old memories." Grian explained. "But... now you all know what happened." He let out a teary smile.

"Wait, when did I start crying?" Ren wiped his eyes, then approached Grian to hug him tightly.

All the other hermits joined in on the group hug. Grian remained shock before hugging back. He wrapped his arms around the hermits, closing his eyes. His large wings wrapped around them as well, forming a protective barrier. Grian knew, that with the Hermits, he was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy frick jesus this is a long chapter. In hindsight, this is literally Grian's back story told out in one really long chapter that I really should've split up into several parts.  
> Thank you all for reading and remember, Jellie for Mayor.  
> (I'm kidding, I support all the hermits for mayor, okay bye!)

**Author's Note:**

> Before you start, yes, I am doing a part 2 for this work.  
> What went on in my brain while planning the Bdubs work: GRIAN ANGST (Grian, again, I'm sorry)  
> Also, next part will feature some sensitive topics, so I will put a TW before the next part on what's to come.  
> Thank you for reading!


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